Greetings and welcome, Reader!! I hope this email finds you well!
Today, I'm going to do something a bit different than usual – you won't be getting your usual writing rant – today I'll be talking mainly about two things:
1: an apologetics podcast by Chuck Black I recently listened to
2: A Casting Crowns song
3: some updates on my songwriting journey
4: and a friend's email list, Words of LIGHT
Let's dive right in!
"The Warrior's Heart" – Chuck Black's podcast
Recently, my mom and I started listening to Chuck Black's podcast, The Warrior's Heart. And a few weeks ago, we put on two episodes about Christian Apologetics, titled simply, "Apologetics: Giving an answer for your faith" (part 1 and 2). Today, I'll be sharing a bit about these episodes and a few of my thoughts on them.
In these episodes, Chuck first talked about the meaning of "apologetics", and referenced 1 Peter 3:15 which says,
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."
I found it interesting when he mentioned that often, the first part of that verse is quoted, "...always be ready to give an answer...", but not often the second part which says, "...with meekness and fear."
Chuck Black noted that when we are to give an answer for our faith, we are not to attack the person or shove our beliefs in their faces. Rather, we are to demonstrate why we believe what we believe with a spirit of love, compassion and humility.
However, even though we as Christians should always be ready to give an answer, that doesn't mean we should give an answer every time. Let me explain.
Chuck listed six criteria that he found in his experience with apologetics that I found helpful. He said that in his experience, these criteria should be met before giving an answer. I'll list them, and leave a link to his podcast below so you can listen to all of it in-depth.
1: Is the Lord leading you to do this?
2: Is the person genuine?
3: Can you speak with authority?
4: when criteria 2 and 3 aren't met, do you feel an obligation to the person?
5: Are you prepared?
6: Is your heart right?
These six criteria have made me think more deeply about certain situations I’ve faced in the past where one or more of the criteria listed was not met in that particular situation I was in and I went ahead and gave an answer anyway. And as a result, I have faced my own friends with doctrinal discrepancies, and ended up clashing with them instead of leading them to the truth with a spirit of love and compassion.
I hope and pray that someday in the future that I can have the opportunity to talk to some of these people again, and that this time, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I would lead them to the truth.
Click here to find Chuck Black's podcast!
Apologetics Resources
Before I move on, I thought I'd share some of my favorite resources with you! Let me know if you've ever read some of these!
Enjoy!
1: World Religions and Cults Vol 1-3 ––– Bodie Hodge and Rodger Patterson
2: The Henry Morris Study Bible (I have the Defender's edition)
3: Strong's Concordance (can be found online too.)
4: The Lie ––– Ken Ham
5: the Bible Has the Answers ––– Henry Morris
On another note, I recently found a song by the CCM band Casting Crowns (their music is AMAZING by the way! If you want some recommendations from them, I'd be happy to send you some if you reply and ask!) The song is called Love You with the Truth, and it talks about....well, let me just paste verse one and two, the bridge, and the chorus here, and I'll put my thoughts in parentheses.
Verse 1:
For the longest time, I believed the lie,
That I'm not a strong enough believer,
To be the friend that could take your hand,
And lead you straight to Jesus,
Verse 2:
Been waiting on the preachers,
The singers and the teachers
To string the perfect words together,
But every single time I have to say goodbye,
I wonder, "Will this be the last time?"
Bridge:
I can't call myself 'your friend',
And walk away.
Chorus:
When we love, we earn the right to speak the truth. (love is talked about here as brotherly love. When we love someone as a friend, we 'earn the right' to speak truth, even if it hurts, like it says in Proverbs 27:6)
When we speak truth, we show the world we truly love. (when we are willing to speak the truth to our friends even when it is painful and it makes them angry at us, we show them and others around us that we truly love them – to the point where we are willing to lose the friendship in order to try and turn them to the truth)
I'm not pointing my finger,
I'm holding out my hand. (through all of this, we are to speak the truth with love, grace and humility as it says in 1 Peter 3:15. I know sometimes when we are talking about our faith, it is easy to get our hackles raised and get defensive instead of leading the other person to the truth)
I lay it all on the line now to see God save my friend. (referencing my notes on the verse "when we speak truth we show the world we truly love", this means that we are willing to lay our friendship on the line in order to see God work through us to save that person)
Let my life and my words be the proof,
I'm gonna love you with the truth
~ ~ ~ ~
It's such a powerful song; I encourage you to listen to all of it!
Last, but not least, is news from my song, A New Name
And sadly, I'm going to have to make you wait for another newsletter for it, Reader.
I'm sorry –– I've been a bit busy finishing up a novelette, beginning to plot the second draft of my WIP Forged, and at the same time writing the first book of my debut project that I've barely had time to write the sixth draft of my band's debut song, Courageous.
I got a better idea though. I'm going to be working on recording A New Name with my friend, Anneliese, as soon as I can buy an audio inference set. (And I'm soooo close!) I'll see if I can send A New Name over after it's recorded instead!!!
Speaking of Anneliese, she is not only one of my best friends, but she is a writer, artist, and athlete with a heart ablaze for Christ! You can sign up for her email list, Words of LIGHT, to receive updates on milestones reached, faith-filled content to encourage and bolster you, and her free allegory, The Light.
Click here to hop on over to her website, learn more, and join her email list!!
Anyway, thanks for reading, Reader! I'm just now realizing that this would probably be better as a blog post than an email...oh well! Maybe by next year, Lord willing, I'll have a blog! XD
May God bless you!
On FIRE for the Lord,
Victoria
